In a heavy bottomed pan, heat gingelly oil, add all the ingredients except the tamarind extract. When they turn golden brown, add the pulp and stir till it becomes like a paste . This is pulikkachal. This can be stored for 2 to 3 months in a refrigerator. Puliyodharai preparation is here.

Dry roast pepper, red chillies, coriander seeds, chenna dal and methi seeds and powder it in a mixie. This can be stored in an air-tight container.NOTE: Pulikkachal + the powder mentioned in puliyodharai preparation makes puliyodharai distinct & unique and also enhances the flavour.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

My mother is an expert in making puttu. This is made on Navarathri Friday. It is also made when a girl attends puberty and for the first blossom of a coconut tree. Many people regret about not having or maintained any treasure books. As I always say, I have started this blog for guiding my sons and the younger generation. Don't worry. Now, we the food-bloggers are working on a great treasure (both traditional and fusion) for our future generation. Pat on your shoulders or lift your collars. We can do it ourselves with pride. Nothing wrong in it.

Sieve rice flour and dry roast it till it changes its colour to slight red. Allow it to cool.

Soak toor dhal in water for 1/2 an hour.

Add turmeric powder and salt to a cup of water and mix well.

When the flour is cool, sprinkle this water little by little and mix it gently. Hold this tightly in your hand. (The consistency for this: This should neither be a dough nor a powder. The powder should be wet enough to steam it). Drain the toor dhal completely and add to this.

Place this in a clean cloth and tie it to form a bag. Place this bag in a vessel and pressure cook for a whistle. When the pressure is released, take out and allow it to cool. Mix it gently using your hands without any lumps.

Fry cashews, kismis and groundnut in ghee.

Meantime, heat a heavy-bottomed pan and make a syrup with the jaggery to a soft ball consistency. To this, add the scraped coconut, cardamom powder, cooked & cooled flour, & the fried nuts. Mix well, saute for a while & take it off the stove. At this stage, this will be slightly sticky, but when cool this will get the scrambled effect. Soft and sweet puttu is ready.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

There are two ways of pickling this kizhangu. This method is done using fresh curd. This can be preserved for more than a year. This has a strong odour and some do not like this pickle. Even I did not like it while I was young. My grandma says that when I was a child, I will eat even green chillies raw, if bought by me. Probably because of that cradle nature of mine, I started liking it, while making pickles on my own. The english name for this is Sariba. This is an appetizer and blood purifier and has great medicinal values.

CUTTING THE KIZHANGU: Cut it through the sides OR cut into two from centre. Discard the centre stem which will be very thick.METHOD:

Select tender mahali kizhangu. Wash well.

Take a vessel of water. Peel the kizhangu and immerse in water to prevent discolouration. Now, cut the mahali kizhangu into small cubes through the sides. Discard the centre thick stem. Wash well again and also immerse the cut kizhangu in water.

Salt secret: Generally, I make pickles in the ratio 10:1. (Grandma's tips). (i.e.) 10 measures of cut kizhangu or maavadu or lime or whatever it is and 1 measure of salt. The pickle if done in this ratio will last long. However, the measures differ according to one's taste.

Lata has tagged me with By the book of Jayashree a week before. Sorry Lata, I could not respond to it immediately due to household chores. Thank you so much for remembering me. My treasured cookbook is my grandma's handwritten note, which I carried with me after getting married. As I was married at the age of 20, she thought that it will be useful to me & wrote everything with great patience. Not only recipes, even the tradition, as when to take oil bath, wear new clothes etc. The interesting part is that she had mentioned even the WEDDING DAY as a Pandigai and has given guidance about it. As my marriage was on Aani, she has started from that and guided through various festivals and recipes. She could not write after a stage, and I completed it as told by her. Here are the samples.

The condition of the note book

Her instructions and guidances

Siddhi has passed me on these awards. Thank you Siddhi, for remembering me.

And Sailaja has passed some more awards along with the above . Thank you Sailaja.

Monday, January 25, 2010

As part of our events, Republic day was celebrated by hoisting the National Flag in the nearby grounds and was filled with Desabhakthi. The children were encouraged to be creative and positive in their activities. The program also provided the opportunity for parents and children to visit and learn about NANDAVANAM. The photos are below.

WHAT ISNANDAVANAM?

NANDAVANAM in Tamil, is the garden where different flowers blossom for the daily pooja of The Almighty.This NANDAVANAM unites all children in serving The Almighty and mankind.NANDAVANAM is a forum for children to discover the divinity within them.NANDAVANAM enables children to learn moral values and culture in an enjoyable manner and make good friends.The forum also develops a sense of service to mankind, and teaches our heritage.The children brought up in this way will learn good moral values and principles and will realize the spark within themselves and grow with positive thoughts and spirituality.

ACTIVITIES:-

Activities include social, spiritual, intellectual and physical development of the children.

Generally this type of curry is done on festival days. But this is an excellent combination with jeera rasam (Type 1 and Type 2) mixed with hot rice and a little ghee. This is done with brinjals also. You can see the brinjal saamaan podi here.INGREDIENTS:

Wash and soak green gram dhal and rice in water overnight. Drain the water completely and grind it coarsely( like adai batter) alongwith green chillies, coriander leaves, ginger and cumin seeds. Mix in the salt, chopped onions and curry leaves.

Heat a tawa, spread the batter, drizzle oil on sides, and when done flip it to the other side. Again drizzle oil on sides and cook till crispy and golden brown. Serve hot with any chutney. As I had some sambhar, I did not make any chutney.

In a pan, heat a teaspoon of oil and add the items (given in the list" To Powder") till golden brown. When cool, add coconut and powder coarsely in a mixie. Keep aside.

In the same pan, heat the remaining oil , add mustard seeds , slit green chillies and curry leaves. Then add all the vegetables and stir fry for 2 minutes. Add required amount of salt, pour in 1/4 cup of water and cover it with a lid. When half done add the tamarind extract and let it boil till the raw smell of the tamarind goes. Now add the mashed dhal and let it boil for 3 more minutes. Add the ground powder and bring it to a boil. Mash cooked rice, and add it to the sambhar , mix well without any lumps and serve hot with any vadaam or poricha appalam.

Amla is known for Vitamin C and this drink is best suited for all ages. Amla builds immunity, palm crystal is useful in throat problems and lowering cholestrol and jeera is best for digestion. Needless to say, honey is an energy booster with antioxidants. I had some amlas and tried this.

Heat a kadai and dry roast cumin seeds till brown. Add 4 cups of water and allow it to boil till it reduces to half. Add the grated amlas and palm crystals, boil it for a minute, switch off the stove and cover it with a lid for 10 minutes. Grind and strain it through a strainer, add honey, stir and drink.

Pressure cook moong dhal and mash well. Boil milk till it reduces to half. Dissolve jaggery in little water, strain the dust and allow it to boil till it diffuses its raw smell. Now add in the mashed dhal and milk. Bring it to a boil. Season it with fried cashews, powdered cardamom and pachaikarpooram. Offer it to the LORD.

Peel and dice potatoes into big cubes. Chop ladiesfinger into 1" long pieces. Heat oil in a kadai, and fry both separately. Keep aside. In the same kadai, heat a tablespoon of oil and add cumin seeds and turmeric powder. (Add the onions at this stage and saute till translucent). Add salt, all the powders and the fried vegetables. Saute well till crispy and golden brown. Tastes heavenly with phulkas , chappatis & pooris.